Tshwane senior managers to blame for Aucamp’s appointment – report

The findings create ‘favourable conditions’ for adherence to ethics by government employees and management, the Public Servants’ Association says.

The outcome of the findings into the appointment of former mayoral chief of staff Marietha Aucamp demonstrated failure by the city of Tshwane in conducting due diligence when employing staff, according to Public Servants’ Association (PSA) deputy general manager Tahir Maepa.

Reacting to the tabling yesterday of the report by Tshwane City manager Moeketsi Mosola and Mayor Solly Msimanga into the saga, Tahir called on the city to take “appropriate action against senior managers responsible” for the appointment of Aucamp in November 2016, on an annual package of R1.2 million, without the required qualifications.

Maepa said action would send “a clear signal to all spheres of government about the dangers of cutting corners” when recruiting staff.

In welcoming the report into Aucamp, he said the findings created “favourable conditions” for adherence to ethics by government employees and top management.

“This sends a strong message that top management should not be negligent in the selection process when recruiting and employing staff,” he said.

“The importance of following procedures and policies to the latter cannot be over-emphasised. Proper checks and balances should have been done.

“What has happened is similar to what we always see when people apply for tenders. You do not put people in positions or award them tenders because they are comrades.”

The Tshwane report, which has exonerated Msimanga for his involvement in the appointment of Aucamp, has implicated officials in the city’s group human capital department for the debacle that has embarrassed the mayor, who has prided himself on running a clean government.

The report has come up with damning findings of “evidence” that the city of Tshwane human resources officials “did not follow procedures and policies”.

It said they “actively sidestepped” the city’s processes and policies and also “actively sidestepped processes to effect the appointment of the chief of staff”.

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Other key findings were:

The chief of staff misrepresented her qualifications by stating that she had a B-Tech degree on the competency assessment form she submitted.

The appointment of the chief of staff – both in the acting and on contract – was irregular, not in line with the job requirements and Tshwane’s human resource policies. The report has recommended that:

The city manager subjects the human resources officials involved to a disciplinary process leading to consequence management, already started by Tshwane’s governance and support officer as well as the legal department.

The city institutes a range of preventative actions to ensure that human resource policies and procedures are adhered to. This will avert future flouting of processes and policies as seen in the Aucamp matter.

The city manager should refer all issues pertaining to possible action to the legal department for further processing.

Mosola said the report, which followed an investigation by the city independent audit chief executive, constituted “phase one”, with “phase two” to be released later.